Caribbean News
Premier silent so far on failings exposed in a Royal TCI Police Review
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicosIslands, October 19, 2023 – No word has come from the government regarding reported failures unearthed from an alleged UK investigation into the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force.
Magnetic Media reached out to the Premier’s Office on October 17th, hours after The Guardian broke the news that the RTCIPF had been described as ‘overwhelmed by the crime wave experienced by residents in 2022.’
We attempted to find out if the Premier had prior knowledge of the review and subsequent report or had seen a copy of the document which reportedly lays out allegations of mismanagement and corruption.
However, no response was shared with the news team up to news production time.
Washington Misick, TCI Premier has defended the police and Trevor Botting, Police Commissioner in the past. 
In a September 2022 press conference in response to Magnetic Media queries, Misick blamed ‘gut reaction and emotion’ as the reason why TCI residents were displeased with the Commissioner’s performance after calls for his resignation were shared online.
“For the same reason that every time a gang member gets killed the police is blamed, that’s the kind of gut reaction, emotion, and [that’s] the reason why people are saying the Commissioner has to go. They said that with the last commissioner, they’ve probably been saying it with the one before that.”
The Premier, in that press conference continued with, “It’s not up to me to retain or not retain the commissioner but I personally In my dealings with the commissioner, I have no reason to believe that he is not doing his best working hard to build up the police force and to detect crime.”
Trevor Botting’s contract was not renewed by Dileeni Daniel Selvaratnam, the newest TCI Governor who in her own response to The Guardian article highlighted the commissioner’s imminent departure and said,
“A key focus of my recruitment of [the commissioner’s] successor will be the reinforcement of policing standards and a strong ethical framework of conduct and performance for the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force.”
Despite our queries, the Governor did not disclose whether she had seen the full report.
Selvaratnam also did not say whether that Review had at all factored into the decision to advertise the top cop’s job.
UPDATED: October 23, 2023
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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